President Robert Mugabe has praised the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) for defending the country against enemies of the state.

Addressing thousands of people who attended the Defence Forces Day commemorations at the National Sports Stadium in Harare on Tuesday, Mr. Mugabe said he is proud of the army which has demonstrated the highest levels of discipline locally and in international missions.

The president said the ZNA is helping in demining areas littered with undetonated bombs planted by the Rhodesian security forces during the war of liberation.

Speaking to journalists Monday, the commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces General Constantine Chiwenga said they are ready to defend the country’s constitution and the nation against all enemies.

“The thinking in some quarters that the ZDF should be confined to barracks and expected to only emerge when they are physical threats to the country’s territorial integrity is not only uninformed but is also not in sync with the letters and spirit of the law of the land.

“The protection of territorial integrity is just a portion of the ZDF’s mandate. The protection of the people cannot therefore be merely restricted to physical entities such as territory, borders, mortal human beings or its airspace … Instead such protection extends to abstract issues which includes values, practices, culture, traditions and ideas of the people in addition to their national interest which may be economic, political, cultural as well as social.”